Apparatus for launching ships&#39; boats.



No. 813,915. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906. R. H. ROBINSON.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING SHIPS' BOATS. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 6. 1905.

4 SHEETs-SEEET 1.

PATENTBD PEB. 27, 1906.

No. 813,9l5.

R. H. ROBINSON. APPARATUS FOR LAUNGHING SHIPS' BOATS.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 6. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 813,!315. 4 PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906.

R. H. ROBINSON. APPARATUSTOR LAUNGHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLIGATION- FILED JULY 6. 1905.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 3.

RICHARD HENRY ROBINSON, OF DAWLISH, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR LUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

Specificaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

Application filed. July 6, 1905. Serial No. 268,580.

To LZZ whom it may cancer-n:

Be it known that I, RICHARD HENRY ROB- INsON, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, and a resident of Holcombe Cottage, Dawlish, in thecountyof Devon, England, have invented new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Facilitating the Launching of Ships' Boats, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for quicklylaunching ships boats, in which the operation of releasing the boat fromthe chocks upon which it is carried and freeing it from the grips whichhold it and of swinging around the davits with the suspended boat, sothat the latter can be lowered into the water, can be performed by oneor more men by the aid of a wheel and a lever arranged upon the deck.

The objects of my improvements are, first, to provide a hand-wheel bywhich a Wormwheel attached to one of the davits on which the boat isSuspended can be turned, so that the boat can be swung round into theposition for lowering it into the water; second, to enable the bearingof the shaft adjacent to the worm-wheel to be swiveled round so as whenrequired to throw the worm-wheel in or out of the gear with the endlessscrew which drives it; third, to provide means to prevent any undue ordangerous swinging of the end of the boat carried by the second davit;fourth, to enable the outer chocks which support the boat to be throwndown and at the same time the grips which hold the boat to be releasedby a single movement of a handlever. I attain these objects by the novelmechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side View of a ship s boat suspended from its davits. Fig. 2 is aView of the same from above. Fig. 3 is an end View of thesupporting-chocks closed in the position to support the boat. Fig. 4 isa similar View showing the supporting-chocks separated so as to free theboat. F ig. 5 is a view 'from above with the boat removed, showing thechocks separated and the movable one turned down. the davit and thetangent toothed wheel by which it is turned round. Fig. 7 is a view fromabove, and Fig. 8 an end View of a sli'ghtly-modified form, showing thechocks closed together in a position to receive the Fig. 6 shows thesupport for Similar letters refer to similar parts,

throughout the several views.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4:, and 5 a a' are the davits turning in sockets fixedto the deck and having Suspended from them in the usual way the boat b.A shaft c, turning in bearings d d', fiXed to the deck, is geared at oneend to beveled toothed wheels e, connected with a hand-wheel f, by whichit can be turned round in either direction, and at the other end hasupon it an endless screw g, gearing with a worm-wheel h, fixed upon thelower end of one of the davits a. In the form of davit where the uppermovable portion is stepped or pivoted in an iron socket or standardfixed on the deck, as shown at i, Fig. 6, the worm-wheel his fixed uponthe lower end of the davit a, an opening being left at in the lower partof the standard 'i suflicicntly large to allow the endless screw to gearwith the worm-wheel. The hearing d' for the shaft c, Fig. 2, is made inthe form of a jaw, embracing the shaft at the end of a lever k, pivotedto the deck at Z and held in position by a movable pin or fastening m,so that in case of emergency the pin can be removed and the endlessscrew g instantly disengaged from the wheel h, so that the davit a canSwing free. At the lower part of the after or second davit a is pivoteda pawl n, Fig. 1, which gears in a circular toothed rack o, fixed to thedeck or to the socket of the davit a', so as to prevent any undue ordangerous swnging of the after end of the boat while launching in roughseas.

p p' are the chocks which support the boat, the two outer of which, p'p', are capable of being thrown down fiat, as shown in Figs. 5 and 9,isoas to leave the boat free for launching. The outer chock p' is rigidlyfixed upon one end of a bar q, which is parallel with and passes througha hole or bearing in the body of the opposite chock p, which is rigidlyfixed to the deck, as shown, and this bar q is free to slidelongitudinally, as well as to turn on its aXis and it is pivoted orconnected with a hand-lever r, which is hinged upon 'a oint s, carriedby a lever t, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the lower end of which turns freelyupon the bar q and is shown formed with a socket u, projecting into arecess in the fixed chock 1), so

that when the hand-lever 7' is moved out the bar q, and with it theouter chock p', is moved away from and clear of the side of the boat,Fig. 4, while the following action of turning down the chock 1)' uponthe deck (to allow the boat s keel to pass over when launching) iseffected by turning the bar q upon its axis, together with the lever t,to which the handle is jointed at s, by moving the hand-lever 7' in adirection at right angles to its previous motion.

v is a bracket attached to the fixed chock 1), which holds the lever tsteadily in its place when it is turned up, as in Figs. 3 and 4.

w w are rollers revolving upon the bar q between each pair of fixedchocks p and movable ones p'. The keel of the boat rests upon theserollers, and When the chocks p and p are closed together, as in Figs. 2,3, 7, and 8, they grip the rollers tightly; but when the chocks areseparated, as in Figs. 4, 5, and 9, the rollers w are released and freeto revolve and offer no obstacle to any movement of the oat.

:Ic x are grips by which the boat is held down upon the chocks p p',their upper ends being hooked over the gunwale of the boat and theirlower ends provided with rngs y, which are dropped (when the boat hasbeen lowered upon the chocks) between the jaws of brackets z, fixed uponthe 'declg into which they pass freely, strong bent pins A, fixed uponthe bar q and having their free ends parallel with the bar passingthrough them and through eyes in the brackets 2 when the bar q has beenturned to bring the movable chock 1)' into its vertical position, Fig.4, and has then been drawn back by the handle to close the chocks, Fig.3. A pin B, carried by a chain C, fastened to the handle r, is thendropped through a transverse hole D in the bar q and a correspondinghole E in the bracket 2, so as to secure the handle r and the entireapparatus in their position. When the chocks p' are thrown down bypushing the bar q, formed by the handle 7", the pins A i are withdrawnfrom the brackets z and the rings y upon the rips u are set free and theboat can be launched.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 the bar g, which passesthrough the fixed chock p and has firmly fixed to it the movable chockpfl is j ointed direct to the handle r by the link F, the center s, uponwhich the handle turns, being formed upon a horizontal stud G, whichturns in a bracket H, fixed to the deck, and the connecting link F beingjointed to the handle at I and to the bar q at J. A pin Kis shown fixedinto the end of the movable chock p' and passing through a hole in theroller w into a hole in the fixed chock p, so that when the chocks arebrought together, as shown in Fig. 8, the two chocks, the roller; andthe sha'ft are all held together in their proper relative positions. Inthis form of the apparatus the remaining details may be the same asthose first described and shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

I am aware that rior to my invention apparatus for facilitatng thelaunching of ships' boats has been made with swiveling davits, Operatingby a wheel and handle, in conjunction with movable chocks andautomaticallydisengaging grips for holding the boats upon the chocks,and I do not, therefore, claim such a combination broadly; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1 In boat-launching apparatus, the combination with the pivoting davitsand means for Operating same, of fixed chocks, movable chocks, and meansfor Operating said movable chocks longitudinally and laterallyrelatively to said fixed chocks, substantially as described.

2. In boat-launching apparatus, the combination with the pivotingdavits, of a fixed chock, a rotatably-mounted reciprocating shaftadjacent thereto, a second chock fixed to said shaft, and means forreciprocating and rotating said shaft, substantially as descrbed.

3. In boat-launching apparatus, the combination with swiveling davits a,a' of a fixed chock p, a sliding and turning shaft q, a chock p'attached to said shaft-handle 7 j ointed to shaft q, lever t turning onshaft q, ivot s on which lever t turns, all substantia ly as set forth.

4. In boat-launching apparatus, in combination with the sliding andturning shaft fixed chock p, and movable chock p@ the brackets z, bentpins A fixed upon the shaft q, and entering holes in the brackets z, andrings y upon grips x, substantially as set forth.

5. In boat-launching apparatus, the combination with the fixed andmovable chocks, of a loosely-journaled roller inter osed between theadjacent edge faces of sad chooks, and means for Operating said movablechock with relation to said roller and fixed chock, substantially asdescribed.

6. In boat-launching apparatus, a combination with a` sliding andturning shaft g, a 'fixed chock p and movable chock p', of a handle rjointed to a studGswiveling ina bracket H, and a bent link F jointed tothe shaft g and the handle r, substantially as set forth.

7 In combination with the sliding and turning shaft q, fixed chockp andmovable chook p, the loose roller w upon the shaft g, between thechocks, and the pin Kfixed to the movable chock p@ and passing throughholes in the roller w and the fixed chock p, when the chock p' isVertical, substantially as set forth.

8. In boat-launohing apparatus, the com- IOO IIO

&13,915 8 bnaton With the pvotng davts and tackle connectiontherebetween, a curved ratchet member adjacent one of said davits, apawl member pvotally carred by said davit and coperating With saidratchet member, and means for Operating said other davit, substantallyas described.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWowitnesses.

RICHARD HENRY ROBNSON. Wtnesses:

JOHN KITTS, RICHARD JARVIS BENNETT.

